List Name

Grades

Creating a Class Newspaper

How to brainstorm story ideas and assign stories to student reporters

Grades

3–5,
6–8

From

The key to journalism is asking questions. Students care about what's going on in their school. Developing a classroom newspaper begins by asking students what they already know and what they'd like to learn more about.

Generating Story Ideas

When creating a class newspaper, it’s important to keep your readers’ interests in mind. As you brainstorm and assign stories, you should always ask yourself these two simple questions:

What do students at my school want to read about?

What stories would grab and hold their attention?

Follow these easy steps and you’ll be fast on your way to creating a first-rate paper.

Step 1: Make a list of 10 hot topics at your school. When putting together your list, make sure to pick issues your fellow students care about the most.

Examples:

Cafeteria food quality

Gym class requirement

The honor code

The dress code

Class elections

The school play

The spelling bee

After school programs

Profiles on star teachers

Profiles on star students

Interview with principal

Step 2: Make a list of at least five hot topics in the news today. When putting together your list, you may want to look at the Scholastic Kids Press Corps homepage for ideas.

General examples:

Latest kid-friendly books or movies

Elections

Politics

Sports

International news

Weather news

National news

Heroes in the news

Step 3: Talk to your student reporters. Find out what their interests and strengths are. On a blackboard, make a roster of your student reporters’ names and their specialties.

Example:

Reporter's Name

Interests/Specialties

Joe

Sports

Jane

School Lunch

Jason

Weather

Jennifer

Politics

Step 4: Now it's time to assign stories. Keep your reporters' interests and strengths in mind when choosing which ones to assign. Next to each name on your roster, assign a story from your lists of topics.